I hold Android ransom for one million dollars! (Source: PeopleSoft Planet)

Google gang stares down Oracal suit (Source: Google)

Oracle grabbed Java in Sun purchase

Google
is a huge technology firm that is slipping its hand into any cookie
jar it thinks may hold a profit. The company already rules the
internet search and advertising market and is on track to rule the
smartphone OS market as well.

Part of the success of Google's
Android mobile operating system, which is growing
faster than any other smartphone OS, is its open source
nature. As a result, the software is offered for free to phone
makers. Reuters reports
that Oracle
has sued Google over the Android operating system. The suit
centers on alleged patent infringement by Google.

Oracle
claims that Google infringed on patents and copyrights it holds
relating to Java. Oracle purchased the rights to Java when it gobbled
up Sun Microsystems for $5.6 billion in 2009. The suit was filed in
federal court in California yesterday and the main claim in the suit
is that Google knowingly and directly infringed on Oracle patents and
copyright.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who earlier this
week condemned
HP's board for firing personal friend Mark Hurd, says
that Java is a key asset for Oracle and that the software is used in
all manner of products.

IP litigator Edward Reines told
Reuters, "Sun's corporate philosophy was obviously very
different from Oracle's in terms of enforcing the Java patents."

San
Jose Mercury News cites
Al Hilwa from research firm IDC saying, "At the end of the day,
it [the suit] could mean a fair amount of money." Hilwa
points out that it is likely that Oracle and Google have been
negotiating for months on licensing terms and the suit is a tactic by
Oracle to press the issue.

Hilwa continued saying, "Java
is essential for Android. Since Android has been out there for more
than a year, most people would have expected they were in compliance
with whatever license terms apply."

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled